Scott: Bondi asked to delay execution, didn't say why

Gov. Rick Scott confirmed Monday that he agreed with Attorney General Pam Bondi's request
to delay the upcoming execution of a murderer because it conflicted
with her campaign kickoff in Tampa on Tuesday evening. But Scott told
reporters he did it as a courtesy and did not know the reason why.

The schedule change, as the News Service of Floridafirst reported, moves the execution of Marshall Lee Gore from Tuesday to Oct. 1.

"Her
office contacted my office and asked for a postponement, and that's
what we did. No, I did not know (the reason)," Scott told reporters at
the Capitol. Pressed for an opinion on the propriety of such a decision,
Scott demurred."We set the date," Scott said. "The attorney general's
office asked for a postponement, so we went along with that ... When
another Cabinet officer asks for something, we try to work with them."

Florida's
Sunshine Law prohibits Scott and Bondi from having private
conversations about official business. Bondi, as the state's legal
officer, has defended a new state law known as the Timely Justice Act,
designed to prevent Death Row inmates and their lawyers from using
dilatory tactics to delay executions.

Gore's execution is set for 6 p.m. Oct. 1 at the death chamber at Florida State Prison in Starke.

When
Gore's execution was delayed previously this past summer because of
legal questions about his sanity, a relative of Gore's victim, Robyn Gayle Novick, publicly criticized the decision.